Part 1: Jaunt to Cambridge

I am currently sitting in the comfy 2nd floor room in the VU Overseas House in Cambridge, looking out onto the street that winds its way through the heart of this old college town and which tomorrow will take me to the bus station bright and early in the morning to embark on more adventures.

However, for the past few days, I've had the opportunity to spend time in lovely Cambridge with my dear friends from VU, Claire and Libbi which has been rejuvenating and refreshing and has been a lovely piece of home filled with hugs, laughter, familiar faces, and tea! :-)

I got in on Saturday after flying with friends from AUI from Fez to London Luton and then taking a bus to Cambridge. Claire and Libbi met me and stuffed me with tea and scones before we spent a lovely evening cooking dinner and catching up. Yesterday, we woke up and went to church; the VU Overseas Center is right next to Westfield House, an LCMS seminary where they take a couple classes and a little church. So, we didn't have to walk far. Then we had a lazy Sunday afternoon while Libbi worked away at her honors thesis and Claire and I went for coffee. Who knows how much I would miss Starbucks!

Last night was our girls night and what a night it was! We had wonderful italian food at a little place called ASK and then went to a little pub called the Elm Tree and met up with one of Claire and Libbi's friends, toasted Libbi's productivity and listened to some great live jazz. Very fun. Then went to a little kabob place before having a fun walk back home.

Today, the girls showed me Cambridge...which for those who haven't been is basically a town built around the gorgeous old buildings housing the various colleges within the University of Cambridge. These majestic buildings are all around with their high gates, gorgeous stone walls, and a very lovely academic-sort of pretentiousness that comes with having prestige and good reputations. We had a lovely time sneaking around through some of the private gardens and trying to see what we could see as its not quite tourist season and the end of term for the students here. The colleges and their grounds are really beautiful and was fun to hear a bit of the history and myths that hang around these parts.

Also amusing to see Christ College, which CC at VU is modeled after...though not quite living up to the coolness or the majesty. Although, some might say that we do often achieve the pretentiousness...but I think until we have a private garden that only the Lily Fellows can sit and read in or only CC students can be in with necessary CC ID we're still safe. ;-) Although, I do agree with Nicole that getting some sweet academic-wear...scarves and shirts and such...with a Christ College crest and it being a faux pas for any non CCer to wear them. Ha ha.

Anyway, so we had a lovely day of going around Cambridge and also walking in all of the fun shops with amazingly wonderful looking clothes and laughing at the awful prices. Things are SO expensive here! But I think Claire, Libbi and I each had picked out a dress or two that we would buy if we suddenly won the lottery or something. Mine was green and fairy-like as Libbi put it.

We had wonderful sandwiches at Tatties and had a good time dancing to various random songs that came on over the speakers and that dashed out back into the weather that by this time had gotten very chilly. England weather, not unlike Indiana weather. Who knew?

Explored Borders (I heart bookstores. Especially ones with English books. I miss English bookstores) and then went and had wonderful dessert at a place called Slug and Lettuce which was divine. Came on back for more girls night and tea and now its time for sleep before I leave!

Basically I'm very thankful for a couple days of friends and getting to see a little bit of this place called Cambridge. The more I travel the more I enjoy getting to sample little bits of the places in this world. The accents, the street signs, the different styles of houses and though we all wear simliar clothes these days, it's with a different air, a nuanced sense of priority and sense of beauty. And of course, I can't lie and say that its not refreshing to see the GAP, Starbucks, and various packaged foods and familiar consumeristic products...I know that globalization has many downfalls and that the free market system isn't all good (sorry to my Republican readers) but sometimes on a very basic level its nice to see something from home.

And now for Egypt...

Differences

So, in my last post, I remarked on some of the similiarities...granted the not-so-happy similiarities between Morocco and home...or I suppose Morocco and everywhere. Anyway, I thought since its before spring break and techinically a little over halfway through my time here that maybe I should tell you all about some of the differences between Morocco and home, yes?

Yes. So here goes...

Differences (both small and large, ridiculous and important):

• Paper size...A4 rather than 8.5 x 11. I keep cutting off the bottom of all my papers to shove them into my folders. And the notebook paper is 4 hole punched.
• Electricity...light switches are like little squares with an edge at the bottom. At many places in Morocco, in the hallways the lights don't automatically stay on, they have little glow like circles and you have to hit them as you go past. This saves electricity which is cool. But if you end up sitting in the hallway for awhile you have to keep hitting the switch, and I don't even want to tell you how careful you have to be going down stairs sometimes.
• "looks"... i'm not sure exactly how to put this, but as a foreigner in Morocco (the Middle East/North Africa whatever) you have to get used to sticking out very much. Even with light brown hair, I stick out because everyone has really dark hair, usually dark eyes, a darker or olive complexion. I realize this is probably obvious, but it takes on a whole new meaning when you're walking around everyday and stick out. And this is not just at the university of course, in fact when we're going traveling or "being tourists" we stick out even more, especially as women. We end up getting interesting comments like "It's been a long time since angels visited our city" "I like your shape" "Bonjour, Welcome, Helllooo"...
• Food seasonings...they have ketchup, but use mustard and mayonnaise a lot more. They also have different seasonings, which I don't know the names of, but for example there is one dark greenish powdery substance that they put on eggs and such. I can definitely taste a difference in their seasonings just on the meats or in soup, much less in couscous!
• Cost of food...very very cheap. Breakfast consisting of freshly squeezed orange juice (Morocco has big orange crops...), harsha (my favorite breakfast food which is sort of like an english muffin shaped compact piece of corn bread), and cheese is like 6 dirhams (around 80 cents or so). In fact, any sort of bread is really cheap because its very heavily subsidized here by the government because of the poverty throughout Morocco. The US and the EU have been pressuring Morocco to lift the subsidies, but if the government did this right now many people would probably starve.
• Bathrooms. A few notes here. 1) sex relativity...even if there are girl/guy signs on the doors, it doesn't seem to really matter. Bathrooms are bathrooms here and seem to be much more public space than private space, so people go in interchangeably 2) In public places, like restaurants there's usually only one bathroom and unless you're in a really modern place you're looking at a hole in the floor with two places for your feet...which feels correct if you are of the male gender, but is really just awkward if you are female. 3) Toilet paper...optional in these "bathrooms."
• The Media. So, for those of you have not been abroad, or have not been abroad recently...the exporting of American culture is huge when it comes to TV, music and the internet here. HUGE. My Moroccan classmates have seen more of the MTV-esque movies and tv shows here than I have...there are television stations that show American television shows all the time with Arabic subtitles, usually a couple seasons back. Alias is still real big here. Plus, stations that show a really random mix of American movies...Galaxy Quest, Harry Potter, etc. All of the students here listen to American music interchangeably with Arab music and sing along, sometimes asking what a certain phrase here or there means...of course its a little more disturbing when they're singing along to Tupac or Eminem and cussing up a storm without knowing what they're saying. It's really funny to ride in taxis here and hear the random mix of music on the radio...on the way to Rabat one weekend we went from Britney Spears "Crazy" to Beyonce's "To the Left" to an Arab singer singing about her "habibee" (my love) back to Fergie with "Fergilicious. I write all of this to say...how weird would it be to grow up in a culture listening to music that I couldn't understand, watching tv shows that exported cultural ideas different from my own (not to say that I always agree with the American cultural ideals in teen movies), and not really seeing myself or my family reflected in that. Much less, to say what they think about Americans...America = Friends, Will & Grace, American Pie, Austin Powers....oy vey.
• Ceilings and Tiling: Lots and lots of mosaics and ornately done tile especially on walkways and ceilings. Even the water fountains are tiled with mosaics exquisitely! Although this does pose some problems sometimes. The tiling on all the walkways around AUI is beautiful, with this like inset star pattern...but its all so slippery that when it rain its a disaster zone.
• Coding/Laws...so, coming here makes me realize that America has a lot of codes and laws, especially in terms of health and safety. Which sometimes may same a bit ridiculous, until they're absent. I ride in grande taxis every week with 4 people shoved in the back and 2 people up front + the driver. Seatbelts? Ha. Speed limits...okay I guess there are some, but they don't really apply that much. Especially when the police can be bribed. (apparently). Fire codes and mandatory fire detectors...not so much. Health codes about what can be refridgerated, served, taken back, etc...nope. Oh yeah and the airport didn't take my liquides from me either, though Spain did when I came back which made me very unhappy.
• Things that are assumed (I'll try not to make this sound negative): I think in every culture there are assumptions of common courtesy that are developed and that when you're from a foreign culture you kind of miss or just don't know. I'm sure my American friends and I do taboo things and don't realize it. But some things seem very taboo to us...like our classmates (many of them) not standing in line, or blatantly cutting in the cafe and the salesperson just taking the person's order who's loudest and most annoying; not walking on any particular side of the walkway/doorway/street,etc and very often just running into you; picking up a piece of bread, fruit, food item and then deciding you don't want it and putting it back...or sorting through food to find the best one, leaving behind fingerprints on everything...
• Greetings: When you meet a friend or anyone here for the first time or just the first time that week, day, hour, whatever...most do the "kiss kiss" on either cheek and do a lot of shaking hands.
• Language: Moroccans mix languages all the time. (Which is very confusing for little old me attempting to understand Arabic). And speak very fast. French-Arabic-French. Arabic-French-Arabic. Here at AUI, add in English into the mix and sometimes Spanish if the students are from the north-eastern coast where the Spanish came into Morocco for a time. They change languages mid-sentence. The change languages depending on who they're talking to. You just never know!

Okay that's enough! Time for bed. Tomorrow I'm headed for England for the beginning of my spring break to see my dear friends Claire and Libbi in Cambridge. Then off to Cairo and Paris and then back to AUI for the rest of my semester! Craziness!

I'll try to keep you updated! Hope you are all well!

Similiarities

Things that are the same in Morocco:

• Studying for midterms still stinks.
• The week before spring break is always the longest and most unbearable week.
• Meal plan food quickly becomes repetitive. About this time in the semester it also becomes necessary to get off campus simply to not any more fries. I've eaten so much chicken and fries...chicken and fries....chicken and fries.
• March weather...two days ago I was in short sleeves, today I was in a sweatshirt. I kept pinching myself asking "Am I still in Indiana?"
• Procrastination still abounds...(ie this blog post)

And that's all I have to update right now. If you couldn't tell, its midterm week and I have two midterms tomorrow to get through before I'm free to travel to three different countries next week. Sadly, this week's been fairly blah with the exception of yesterday which was fantabulous. Lots of thinking and philosophizing and blah moods....i.e. I'm ready for a break and to leave Morocco for a little while...I think I've hit that downturn in the study abroad curve too. Oy. Well, pessimism is termporary, right?

Hope you're well...I'll update when I'm happier at some point.

Madrid Misadventures & Maladies

Greetings to you all!

It is now March! Many of you are now on spring break (if you're at Valpo), coming up on spring break, or wishing that you were still a student so that you got a spring break...

I'm writing mid-week a bit under-the-weather as I seem to have caught an not-so-fun bug that has been going around. So, to get the reality of this post, just hear a raw cough every couple sentences and it'll be just like I'm there telling you the story.

So, this past weekend was a great adventure! I and Aileen (one of the girls here in Morocco with me) took the train up to Casablanca Thursday night so that we could catch our flight out the next day to Madrid, Spain where we were both meeting friends.

Taking the train in Morocco is an adventure in and of itself, as it is not well-marked so foreigners are never quite sure when to get off, where they are, etc. It's a good time. But we got first class tickets on the way up (you're not assured a seat in 2nd class which I experience on the way back) and had a good time talking. Once we arrived in Casa we found our way to Hotel Metropole which had been recommended to us and had ourselves a good laugh.

I'm afraid even this picture does not do the room justice...peachish sponge painted walls, maroon velvet bed coverings, pillows, oh and heavy drapes of the same color covering the windows. With that bright red part on various parts...the doors were pink, fake flowers on the table and various evidence that the room hadn't been cleaned too recently. Awesome. The sink dripped, the toilet had this awesome pulley flush...but it started flushing randomly in the middle of the night, oh and we woke up to this terrible sound of construction/rolling dead bodies around/throwing trash cans around...but hey for about 150 dirhams each, which is less than $20 (and the price I paid for a hostel in Spain) I guess I can deal with anything for a night.

We found Casablanca to be fairly sketchy and not that enjoyable...note for all those Casablanca movie fans. It was filmed on a lot in Hollywood. And the only thing reminisicent of the movie is a bar recreated for American tourists, which we didn't find it necessary to experience.

Anyway, so we got up and caught yet another confusing train to the airport and made it with time enough to get utterly frustrated with the Casa airport because of its lack of food, high prices, and just annoyingness. But we finally made it on our Easyjet flight which was suprisingly nice for a discount airline. I swear I had more legroom than I did on my 9 hour flight from New York to Morocco! Arrived in Spain in time to see the sunset over the mountains outside of Madrid via our airplane windows...

Pause. (This is the problematic moment in the trip. When excitement and lack of attention could have caused a serious problem.)

We went through customs and baggage claim with no problem, and I exchanged money to get some euros for the weekend...the guy asked for my passport which had happened like 5-6 times in the space of 3 hours so I was fairly used to handing it over and having them hand it right back....a few metro stops and hostel desk later, I realized that the last part of that equation had not occurred.

For those of you who have not experienced the moment you realize that you're in a foreign country without your passport, I hope you don't. I like to think I took it rather well however, and we quickly made plans to go and retrieve it the next morning while the hostel owner (a kind man sent from God I swear) called the airport multiple times to no avail (basically because i was mistaken about which terminal I came in...). Anyway, we had made it to our hostel, which was lovely, and met up with my dear friend Nicole who had a long journey via trains from Germany where she is studying this semester. It was so good to see a friendly face from home!

So our first evening in Madrid was a bit nervewracking, but we still managed to have a nice meal in a little Spanish cafe, fall in love with the Spanish architecture walking around, and learn that Madrilenos enjoy being outside in the evenings...and in the wee hours of the morning, as we learned staying in a hostel right by one of the main plazas, Puerto de Sol. So, after a first nice evening we fell asleep exhausted.

Saturday morning we woke up and set off for the airport with a dual mission: find my passport and meet up with Aileen's friends so that they could travel south to Seville together. By 11:00 both were completed with success! [We sent lots of thanks to the big guy upstairs this weekend]

With that done, and Aileen off on another train, Nicole and I began our trek around Madrid to see what we could see! And what a day we had! We had brunch at Cafe Comercial, walked around the Palacio Real, took in the sights of the Plaza Mayor and enjoyed seeing the street artists paint them as well, the Catedral De San Isidro, walked down the Paseo de Recoletos and had Starbucks (I know its Western but it was SO GOOD to have a Chai Latte! You never know what you're gonna miss...), and spent some time in the Museo Nacional Centro De Arte Reina Sofia...long name for an art musuem, where we saw works by Salvador Dali and Picasso, even Guernica! Sadly, by the time we hit the museum which was an utterly confusing maze of hallways and galleries, I was beginning to feel very achy and tired (foreshadowing the coming week), so we took a little break.

We ended our day at Casa Alberto where we had the Spanish signature tapas...basically like little appetizers that you share...which was a lot of fun. Our waiter was hilarious and the food was warm and yummy and much needed!

Nicole's train left late that night and I went back to the hostel and slept, got up the next morning and nursed my sickness with more Starbucks before toughing it out and going to a Spanish street market which was very fun and full of fun things to buy before I went back to the airport for the 3rd time that weekend to catch my flight back to Casablanca, followed by train, taxi, train, grande taxi...home in Ifrane by 11!

Quite the whirlwind weekend, but totally worth it to get a little taste of Spain and to spend time with Nicole which was a wonderful blessing!

Back this week I've descended into utter sickness, which I at first determined to tough through in favor of getting through a project due yesterday but when that project sank because of my sickness I abandoned that notion. So today was a sick-in-bed day with the hopes to avoid feeling bad for future days. Otherwise I have a paper due Saturday, which if I can get through I will have a weekend of much needed rest after traveling virtually every weekend since I've been here!

Hope all is well wherever you are!